


Happenstance and Rectification

by starspangledbread



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, M/M, Obi Wan is tired, Pre-Relationship, Talking Like Adults, Trauma!, because i hated that episode, imagine if star wars had therapy, maul is bitter, maybe kinda pre slash, obimaul if you squint, these two need it, twin suns fix it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28687887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspangledbread/pseuds/starspangledbread
Summary: Obi-Wan finds himself confronted by Maul during his exile on Tatooine. Only, neither of them seem to want to fight. The years have taken a toll, and they find themselves with more in common than not.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Maul, implied
Comments: 7
Kudos: 87





	Happenstance and Rectification

**Author's Note:**

> I'm late to the game, but this is yet another twin suns fix it, where we actually get a conversation, and the hint of something more.

Obi-Wan sighed as he sank down to one knee to poke at the smoldering fire, the remains from last night’s camp.  _ Time to keep moving,  _ he thought absently as he brushed sand over the embers, extinguishing their glow. It had been a restless few days for the old master. After delivering Luke to his aunt and uncle, he had set off to scope out any dangers in the immediate region. He had taken extensive measures to ward off Tusken Raiders, Jawas, and wayward travelers alike. He was exhausted, but was only partly satisfied. Something had been nagging at the back of his mind ever since he left Luke’s residence. A presence was tugging at the back of his mind. Not enough to warrant concern, but enough to notice. It was familiar as well, and Obi-Wan had a growing sense of dread in his gut. 

There were only so many presences left alive from his past to be familiar to him. He pondered this as he shoved his meager possessions, a sleeping roll and a water bottle, into a sack. Throughout the day, he felt the presence grow in the back of his mind, starting as a whisper, and growing to a steady pull. At this point, there was really only one person it could be. Someone he hoped to never see again. Maul. He was too weary to even wonder how it was that his nemesis had ended up on Tatooine of all places. All he knew was that an encounter was inevitable.

As night once again began to settle over the dunes, Obi-Wan clipped his lightsaber to his belt as he started his fire and unpacked his bag. The presence had settled down into a steady tug at the back of his mind. Wearily, he sat down. The wards took a lot out of him physically, and he was aware that his hair was beginning to gray even though he was only hardly old enough for that to even begin. He was tired. A bone deep tired that sank through his very essence and was beginning to gnaw at his soul. It was too much. He barely had time to process Anakin’s betrayal, death, the twins, the fall of the Jedi, and even the war before that.

It was all catching up to him now. He felt weighed down with an insurmountable guilt and weariness, stemming from the moment he had witnessed his master’s death. All these years, and no way to deal with it aside from shoving it all down behind his mental shields. They were smooth and worn from years of building, but now they were beginning to crumble, the memories threatening to spill out and overwhelm him. Like a wave out at sea that drags you under before you know what’s happening. 

He was aware of the footsteps as they approached the fire, but he didn’t look up. He knew who it had to be. He prodded at the fire again, and slowly raised his eyes to the man in front of him. For a moment, Maul didn’t speak. Obi-Wan looked at his greatest enemy in front of him, and was too tired to do much more than take in his appearance. He looked as tired as Obi-Wan felt. His face was lined, the vivid tattoos decorating his face and arms had lost the vibrancy of their previous years. His golden eyes were dull as he looked at Obi-Wan’s face, recognizing the man in front of him. It felt like a lifetime since they had last met. 

“Kenobi.”

Maul’s voice was rough, as if it had been years since he had to use it. His hand rested on his lightsaber, no, A lightsaber, clipped to his belt. He made no move to raise it, nor to take a step forward. 

“Maul. It’s been some time.”

Obi-Wan stood up, and faced his nemesis from across the bright flames. Maul still made no attempt to move. Obi-Wan frowned. That was unlike the sith he knew. Then again, he himself was unlike the Jedi he used to be. The zabrak spoke.

“It took me awhile to find you. But here we are, at last.”

Obi-Wan didn’t look away. 

“And what do you want, now that you’ve found me? Kill me? Duel?”

Maul didn’t answer. Instead, he looked away from Obi-Wan’s gaze. The Jedi took a step forward.

“Come to gather more revenge? I thought we had settled that score.”

He nearly spat out the last part. Forgiveness was part of the Jedi way, but there were some parts of him that would never forget Satine and Mandalore. Not even now.

“I took my revenge, Kenobi. I destroyed what was precious to you, and you’ve lived with the consequences ever since. No, I do not wish to kill you. Do you wish to kill me?”

Kenobi shook his head, relaxing his grip on his lightsaber but not letting go. Not yet.

“No. I’m tired, Maul. How can I not be? There’s nothing left for me here, as there’s nothing left for you. We are relics, living past our dues. Do you feel it? The galaxy will never be the same as it was when we were young.”

The sith stared at him, obviously still expecting a fight. He looked at Obi-Wan for another moment, then seemed to sag with relief. Or exhaustion.

“I don’t know why I sought you out, after everything. Perhaps it’s true that there’s nothing left for either of us here. There’s nothing left for us, after all.”

He stared into the fire, not meeting the Jedi’s gaze. Obi-Wan was surprised. He hadn’t expected this level of resignation from one who had seemed to burn on endless, red hot rage. That flame seemed to be extinguished, leaving only a man with nowhere left to go. Kenobi thought, this might as well happen. He gestured to the ground. 

“Why don’t you take a seat. You seem weary.”

Maul looked at him in surprise, but sank to his knees across the fire from the Jedi with a wince, placing his lightsaber across his lap as he did so. 

“Kenobi. You’re protecting something. I can tell you’re shielding. Is it something, or someone?”

Obi-Wan didn’t answer. He didn’t know how Maul would react to Luke, and he didn’t intend to find out. This was uncharted waters for both of them. Maul looked pained at his lack of response.

“Ah. Must be someone. Do you really think you can keep someone hidden from the empire forever? You’ve grown foolish, Jedi.”

He said the last word like an insult. Obi-Wan tensed his grip on his lightsaber.

“If you wish to turn them in to the empire, you’ll have to kill me first, I’m afraid.”

Maul’s expression turned sour. 

“If you think the emperor still holds my allegiance, you are more of a fool than I thought, Kenobi.”

He spat, glowering. Obi-Wan was taken aback. He didn’t know what had become of Maul after the fall of the Jedi, or even after he had sent Ahsoka to Mandalore in his stead. He had assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that Maul’s power grab was an attempt to build his own Sith empire. Or even to assist the growing Galactic Empire. Obi-Wan voiced his reasoning, and Maul’s face darkened further. There was that familiar spark of rage. 

“How dare you,”

He spat, fist clenched around his lightsaber. 

“I was a tool, molded from birth to be a Lord of the Sith, then I was cast aside as soon as I fell to a padawan who merely got  _ lucky.  _ I rotted in the filth of that cursed planet for what seemed an eternity, mind and body melting away. And yet, I lived. You know why?”

Obi-Wan had gone pale, the light of the fire flickering in his eyes. His voice was barely audible.

“Sidious had you from birth?”

“Yes, that’s what I said. Very astute observation.”

Maul growled. He began turning his lightsaber over in his hands, lost in thought. It was a moment before he spoke again. 

“Hunting you down was my reason for living. It kept me alive, entrenched in the dark side for all those years, festering in my hatred. The dark side can sustain, but not heal. I was trapped. It was my brother who found me, and brought me to the nightsisters. They healed my mind and my body, and gave me an apprentice. At least, a poor fiction of a Sith molded from the brother I would’ve had. I could see that man, sometimes. At least my mind was my own, for the first time in a decade.”

He looked up, gold eyes meeting blue. Obi-Wan said nothing, but held his gaze. He remembered the other Zabrak, the hulking beast of a man that had killed Master Adi Gallia. He had seemed a monster. Then again, so had Maul. Who was perhaps, just a man. He turned his attention back to his companion. 

“Revenge was my only purpose. Once I killed that Mandalorian woman, I no longer had one. I never wanted to kill you, just make you feel what I felt. After you cut me in two.”

“I’m sorry.”

Obi-Wan said suddenly. Maul looked surprised for a moment, then snarled at him.

“Your apology means nothing. I don’t-”

“I’m sorry I didn’t kill you, that day.”

He interrupted. Maul went to speak, but Obi-Wan held up a hand and continued. 

“It was cruel, what I did to you. It was dishonorable. You deserved a warrior’s death, you had honor in that fight. I don’t ask for forgiveness, but I number that among my greatest regrets.”

Maul stared at him, then sighed and looked away. 

“We all have regrets, Kenobi. I was too weak to save my brother from my  _ former  _ master, too weak to save Mandalore, too weak to become a Lord of the Sith. Even too weak to see the master plan before it was too late, and I became one of the rats clawing through the dust that remained. Just like you were too weak to save your lover, too weak to save your pathetic apprentice, who replaced my replacement at my master’s side. A sycophant who was doomed to fall as we all did.”

He was nearly shouting now, and Obi-Wan’s expression had darkened. He stared at the ex-sith with such repugnance that Maul felt a small burst of pride deep within, as he always had when the Jedi brushed the dark. But it was a fleeting feeling. Then, Obi-Wan seemed to collapse in on himself, that spark of anger fading as quickly as it had come. 

“You’re right.”

He said so quietly that Maul almost didn’t hear. He put his face in his hands, lightsaber falling to the sand next to him. 

“I failed. As a Jedi, a master, and as a friend. There’s no way I can atone for my actions.”

“But you’re here. There must be something. Perhaps that person you’re protecting. You think this can absolve you?”

Obi-Wan picked his head up, looking at Maul with pain in his eyes.

“His name is Luke. I can’t let the empire get their hands on him. I made a promise. He needs to be kept safe, and secret. If you even think about taking him-”

Maul sighed, relaxing his grip on his weapon minutely. 

“I want nothing to do with this child, and I would never wish the clutches of the Emperor upon anyone. Nothing could make someone that young deserve… that.”

He gritted his teeth, staring into the distance again. Lost in thought. 

“You knew Sidious was Palpatine the entire time, didn’t you.”

It wasn’t a question. Maul seemed to pull himself back to attention. He snorted. 

“Not at first. I knew him as Sidious only, for the longest time. Imagine my surprise when I saw a holo of the Senator of Naboo on a mission for the first time. I could never imagine what he was like, how he hid so well…”

He trailed off, looking into the fire. 

“He was always a monster, then.”

Obi-Wan mused, running a hand through his hair. He had expected anger, but Maul just looked defeated. 

“Yes. I am told he was.”

“You were told? You didn’t know?”

Maul scowled at him, then softened. 

“No, Kenobi, I didn’t know what he did to me was wrong, or even abnormal. How would I?”

Obi-Wan hadn’t thought of that. He remembered his childhood in the Jedi Temple, not knowing any other way of life except what he’d been given. At least not until he was older. He had never questioned the Order then, either. He couldn’t imagine how cruel life must have been to the red and black terror he’d encountered on Naboo. It seemed like several lifetimes ago. 

“Who told you?”

Maul looked up at him.

“My brother.”

Ah. It seemed quite ironic, once he thought about it. A man who had never known what it was to be a person, raised to be a weapon in the cruelest ways possible. He had been given the idea, that revelation, by man raised as a person who had that autonomy torn away from him, who was fully aware of what he’d lost. It sounded like Sidious had torn both of their brothers away from them. He knew now that he and Maul were more similar than not. The thought should have horrified him, but it didn’t. What was worse, was that it didn’t even scare him. He wondered if Maul felt the same way.

“And what have you realized?”

The ex-sith started at the question.

“I think you should be the one answering that question,  _ Jedi.  _ I tried to warn you, you know. That fool Tano was too blinded by her faith in her master that she couldn’t see it until it was too late. None of you saw it. You should’ve come. She should have listened to me.”

“You tried to warn her about Anaki- Vader?”

“I told the girl that he had been groomed by Sidious for a long time. I could see it all, with brilliant clarity, and no one would hear me. All you Jedi were fools until the end.”

Obi-Wan tried to process what he was saying. If only someone had listened. But who would heed the words of a madman? Would he have listened, if he had gone? That confrontation would likely have ended two ways. The more realistic of the two would be another fruitless clash of blades, resulting in more destruction and death. Then again, there was always that  _ what if?  _ What if they had been able to talk? Could they have saved Anakin, and taken down Sidious? Obi-Wan and Maul would have been a formidable team. But it was too late. They would never know what could have been. 

“It hardly matters now, I suppose.”

“Everything in the past  _ matters,  _ Kenobi. It just gets dulled by the inevitable decay of time. You know this, look at you.”

“Look at us. The remains of a dead world. So, what will you do?”

Maul looked deflated.

“I do not know. I was hoping you might kill me and be done with it. Or maybe I would kill you. But that wouldn’t break this cycle, would it.”

“And if I won’t fight?”

“Perhaps I’ll let the desert claim me.”

“Or you could stay.”

Maul was taken by surprise. Obi-Wan was similarly nonplussed that he’d said that out loud. But he felt the idea settle in his mind. When he spoke, it was barely more than a whisper.

“Stay. Please?”

Maul looked at him for a long moment. Then he nodded wordlessly, placing his lightsaber in the sand next to him. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback is appreciated. I can't be the only one who vehemently hates what Rebels did to Maul's character, pls tell me I'm not alone!


End file.
